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Saturday, 31 December 2011

As 2011 comes to an end, I have been blogging for 6 weeks.... Seems so much longer... I have come so far since my very first post, met inspiring interesting people, made new friends, rediscovered my creative talents ..... And decided to pretty much makeover everything.....

I also thank all of you who have supported me and read my posts, left me the most fantastic and encouraging comments here and on my Facebook page - it has made my blogging journey so much more enjoyable and rewarding.

Friday, 30 December 2011

I'm really enjoying getting back into jewellery making after not picking up a bead in 8 or so years.

Today I'm going to share a very easy tutorial that I picked up from this amazing website, FusionBeads.com. The step by step instructions are very easy to follow and they also provided a printable download for easy reference.

I used solid steel galvanised wire for these little charms.

Simply: Cut a length of wire and grip the end of the wire with the long nosed pliers, rotate the pliers to form a loop. Then grip the loop firmly with the pliers as in picture D and push the wire around the loop. Keep repeating until you have the spiral size of your choice.

You can add a bead or leave as is.

Cut off the excess wire and form a loop - a cute little charm..... right?

But my sweet-toothed son found this recipe (if you could actually call it that) in one of his magazines and said that we should try it.

And since Christmas is during our Summer months I thought an ice-cream cake was a great idea.

Very simply, all you need is a tub of Neapolitan ice-cream (I bought 2 as I thought 1 wouldn't be enough, but it was), biscuits, chocolate, candy - whatever you like really. And a spring sided, round cake tin.

Line your cake tin with either foil or baking paper

Scoop out the chocolate part of the ice-cream and set aside to soften then mix in the candy of your choice - I used chocolate broken up into chunky pieces

Scoop into the lined cake tin and place in the freezer until frozen

Scoop out the strawberry flavour and soften, I added chopped up Eskimo's (like a hard marshmallow)

Layer over the chocolate layer and freeze.

Last layer is the vanilla and I added broken up oreo type cookies (without the icing part). Layer over the strawberry layer.

Freeze overnight, and decorate before you serve. The kids chose Pebbles (like M&M's), grated chocolate and 100's and 1000's to decorate.

It was so good, it didn't last the day.....

And since Gabriel has his birthday during summer too, he has asked for it as his birthday cake ..... I will be oh so happy to oblige....

I hope you try this treat out - its really worth it especially if you have kids (even those big ones...)

Thursday, 22 December 2011

Two not so great finds that I've made over and now I like, like, like....

I have wanted a little chalkboard in the kitchen for ages but havn't found one anywhere and blackboard paint is pretty pricey for such a small project.

I had given up my hunt, when I found this memo board "thing" - I'm not sure what it was supposed to be, but I liked the structure of it.....

I made it into a magnet board!

I had heaps of those thin fridge magnets that the kids collect out of the biscuit packets, so I just glued them onto the board and glued scrapbooking paper over it with a few coats of modge and varnish. Of course it goes without saying that I painted it white and distressed it. I found the wooden flower at spotlight for less than a dollar.....

In the kitchen..... I have a few magnets on the board and papers attached to the pegs (I took them off for the photo...) I made a cheerful board to prop on the top. And its functional as now all the those bits of paper that have no home are out of the way and displayed for easy reference.

Awful lighting - sorry....

Makeover number 2......

I bought this item while out thrift shopping with a friend, It was not cheap! I paid $10 for it and it was in a right state.... it was awful!

I was on the brink of tossing it out..... I mean look at it!!!!!! It looks like chickens had been living in it....

I took the door off, wiped it down, sanded it and painted a gazillion layers of white paint (even the chicken wire on the door)..... Then it stood for a month, and every time I looked at it I still thought of throwing it out.

I had various pieces of scrap-booking paper that I had chosen for a different project but hadn't used, so I thought it was worth a try covering the outer structure. A few layers of modge and a few layers of satin varnish later and its truly transformed.

I still don't think Ill put a handle on the door or use it for eggs.... I think it will look lovely on one of my shelves... just as it is....

I hope you enjoyed seeing these transformations.... and I hope you have been inspired...

Hi, I'm Natalie, follow my crazy, happy days with my amazing family and my "bright ideas". I'm blessed with a son and 2 daughters and of course a wonderful husband. We live in a tiny house on Auckland's Northshore and this is our story......